


Echoes of Flame

by iTitan_Extreme



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:48:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26904634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iTitan_Extreme/pseuds/iTitan_Extreme
Summary: After their political trip out to sea and TravelerCon, the Mighty Nein return back to Rosohna to rest up a bit before heading back into the Empire. But Caleb's still feeling uneasy about their discovery.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 24





	Echoes of Flame

“Ja, ok, thank you,” Caleb mutters as he finishes up buying some quick supplies for his research late at night. The Mighty Nein have returned to Rosohna after their brief time at Rumblecusp and TravelerCon, and after a nice-yet-tense dinner with Essek, they returned back to the Xhorhaus for a night’s rest. Caleb’s been noodling about with spells late at night like he always does, and ran out for a quick second to buy some material components and paper. 

As he returns home, he hears the familiar bells ring, and quietly shuts the door behind him so that he doesn’t wake anyone up. The rest of the Mighty Nein have all retired to their chambers for the night. Caleb stands in the entryway for a little while before sitting down on the couch and taking out a familiar piece of obsidian and holding it out as he mutters the incantation for Resonant Echo and a few globules of black energy separate from his body and form a dark shadow of himself sitting right next to him on the couch. “Alright, I’ve prepared you with Disintegrate if anyone were to come through that door, other than the rest of the Mighty Nein. Got it?”

The echo nods, but doesn’t speak. As Caleb is about to stand up, in an uncharacteristic way, the echo reaches out and touches Caleb’s face and hair. The texture of the echo feels weird against Caleb’s skin, but he doesn’t resist. The echo then pulls away and nods at Caleb, who says, “Yeah. We’ve cleaned up, haven’t we? Come a long way…:” With that, he gets up, and opens the door to his lab.

Caleb goes through the familiar procedures of setting up his Alarm ritual at every door that leads towards his chambers, glancing over at the mess of notes that is piling up at the desk in the laboratory. He sets down the bag of materials and paper that he gathered on that table and promptly sits down in the bed. He takes out the wand that Calianna gave him and looks it over for awhile before placing it on his nightstand, as well as the pieces of glass. With that, he takes off his tailored coat and lies down in bed, staring up at the ceiling. 

Around 45 minutes pass before he realizes that he can’t sleep. Ideas and possibilities all keep running through his head about Artagan, about Rexxentrum, and he definitely does not feel safe enough to be asleep, especially knowing that Essek wouldn’t be safe here either. He still has some hope left for that man, because he knows that he is redeemable. But he can’t redeem himself if he gets killed beforehand, Caleb thinks to himself. So, he gets up out of bed. He approaches the desk of materials and strewn papers and throws up the four globules of light before starting to meticulously organize them and putting them away. Then he approaches the door to the main room of the Xhorhaus, takes a sharp breath in, and walks through. There, he sees the echo, patiently sitting on the couch where Caleb left it last. Caleb approaches the echo and hesitates in front of it before sitting down. “These days, I’m not too big of a sleeper. I can’t shake the feeling of Trent breathing down my back at every step.” 

The echo seems to make the motion of opening its mouth before closing it, realizing that it can’t speak. Caleb notices and sighs again. “I don’t suppose you’ve had the same problems?” 

The echo seems to stare at Caleb for about 30 seconds before moving. It takes Caleb by the hand and Caleb doesn’t resist. The echo then starts tracing patterns in Caleb’s hand, and it takes him a few seconds but he figures out that the echo traced “You don’t know the half of it” into his palm. Caleb’s lips curl into his familiar weak, mournful smile as he continues to watch the echo’s fingers moving across his palm. The echo finishes but doesn’t take the hand away as it turns its head toward Caleb. Caleb meets the gaze of the echo, or as much as he could, at least. Then, the echo leans its head towards Caleb’s and presses their foreheads together.

At first, all Caleb feels is the cold surface on his skin, and everything about this screams to him, “This is DEFINITELY not how an echo should act”. But then, he feels his vision fade. He tries to scramble about but he feels… numb. He’s still in this empty space. But then he sees stars begin to pop up, with shapes and particles begin to pop up at scales that he can’t comprehend. But he’s familiar with this. He’s attuned with the Luxon Beacon many a time, and this is very similar. And after a bit, he sees that same orb in front of him, but it’s different. It’s tinted in oranges, yellows and reds. Nevertheless, he reaches out for it and places a finger on it. Suddenly, it drifts towards him, and he’s thrust back into reality. But he’s not sitting in the couch at the Xhorhaus, no; he’s sitting on a bench, in Blumenthal, with the Astrid that he remembers from his school days sitting right next to him and a late middle-aged Trent standing right over his shoulder. He looks down at his hands and sees the fresh scars of the residuum. He then notices the figure coming out of a building in front of him: Eadwulf. Eadwulf walks out of his family home, his head bowed down and a shadow covering his eyes. Trent speaks up first, and says, “so, I take it that you’ve done the deed?”

Eadwulf’s nod is barely noticeable, but Trent still approves and says, “Very well. Astrid, you’re up next. I believe we have a dinner date to attend.”

Both Astrid and Bren walk over to Eadwulf and give him a hug as Trent continues on. Caleb feels Bren saying words that he remembers beforehand, “It’s alright, Wulf. You’re stronger than this. They were traitors to our Empire. They deserved this.” Eadwulf just nods, with tears starting to gather at his chin. 

After Eadwulf had a chance to calm himself, they knocked onto Astrid’s parents’ door. Her parents smiled widely as they gladly invited the group in for dinner. Caleb could only watch through Bren’s-- his-- eyes as they all sat down and when her parents weren’t looking, Astrid slipped the familiar Assassin’s Blood into their meals. She could barely contain the tears as her parents started choking and frantically looking about the room, panicking. After 30 seconds, the two stopped struggling and succumbed to the poison right in front of the group. Bren squeezed Astrid’s hand tightly as tears were flowing rapidly down the sides of her face. 

With that, Trent stood up again. “Thank you for allowing us into your home, Astrid. Now, we have a few hours before we convene at midnight for the Ermendruds. Rest up before then, and I will see the three of you then.” With that, he walks out the door.

Astrid sits at the table, looking on at the dead bodies of her parents. Caleb feels Bren say the same thing that he did to Eadwulf, and feels Bren pick himself up and start helping Eadwulf pick up the bodies. They start burying her parents outside, in the backyard, and after awhile, Astrid joins them, with tears still streaming down her face. Bren gives her a kiss on the forehead and the three finish up their task. 

Eadwulf pipes up first, in Zemnian. “Despite everything, we press on. We’re going to be the best mages in the land.” Then he whispers, barely audible, “I just wish they were here to see us rise to that point.” He then clears his throat and looks at Bren. “So, Bren, you’re next. How… are you feeling?”

Bren responds, “Not good, if I’m being honest. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep that dinner down at all. Well, what can you do? They’re traitors. We’ve killed traitors before, and each one of them were disgusting people. Awful people who have done unspeakable things, forsaking our Empire. It’s just… seems much harder to stomach when it is your own kin.”

Eadwulf nods as they start walking out into the street. “I’m probably going to head back to… finish what I started with my family. You two don’t need to help me, I’m… I’m strong enough for this.” He claps Bren on the shoulder. “Rest up before tonight.” With that, he hugs Astrid tightly once more and starts walking in the direction of his own house.

Astrid looks up at Bren, and Caleb still sees the tears welling up in her eyes. He never liked seeing her cry, and immediately he hugged her as tight as he could. “I know I cannot empathize with you, but I know you will get through this. You’re stronger than this. We will get through this.” Astrid just silently nods along and stays in the hug with Bren. Eventually, they pull off from each other and Astrid looks up at Bren again. “At least the three of us have each other to pull the pieces back together. At least you and I will have each other. This is our family now.” With that, she kisses him on the cheek and stumbles back to her house.

Bren makes his way over to his own house, and Caleb already feels what is to come. He’s felt this before, and now he’s doomed to relive it. Bren knocks on the door and is greeted by his family, and Caleb feels a sense of both remorse and longing as he sees his parents again, but sees them again for the last time. He feels Bren put on a fake smile as the pair lead him into the house, where he speaks with them for a brief moment. After exchanging pleasantries and engaging in the conversation that followed, Bren made his way into his room, finding Frumpkin along the way. Caleb feels Bren feel sad about how Frumpkin is getting older, and feels a thought in the back of his mind say, “maybe I should take him with me.” With that, Bren enters his room and promptly collapses on the bed and attempts to sleep.

Before he knows it, Bren hears a knock at his window. He sees Astrid and Eadwulf standing there looking through, waiting expectantly, while Trent is standing further back. Bren quietly gets out of bed and opens the window, just like he used to do when he was younger. Caleb tries to close his eyes to shield himself from reliving this memory but he is unable to. Without a word, Bren walks to a hay bale that his parents have laying around and sets it up against the wall of his house. He mutters the brief incantation and suddenly, the hay bale is lit on fire.

At first, the memory goes just like Caleb remembers it. Bren can barely look as the flames start licking up the sides of the wooden house. He blinks back tears as the flames start to consume the house. He falls to his knees and covers his face as he hears the screams of his family. But… Caleb feels something off. He watches in shock as Bren stands up, still clutching his face, but with determination as he screams “Nein!” and runs toward the burning building. Trent reaches out a hand to try and cast Hold Person but Bren’s determination wards it off. Bren busts through the front door and runs in, instantly obscured by the flames. Before Trent can even react, both Eadwulf and Astrid run in after him, trying to stop him. Caleb feels his own flesh burning off of his skin as Bren pulls apart the now-fallen roof of his home, trying to search forr his parents, but to no avail. A large wooden board falls down onto Bren as he stands in the house, defeated and Caleb feels Bren fully accept death. But no, not yet. He’s fading in and out of consciousness, but he sees Astrid and Eadwulf run up to him. He feels the board lifted off of his chest by Astrid as Eadwulf picks Bren up. Caleb hears Bren think “Just leave me here to die” as the two rush out of the burning building. And as Caleb feels his vision completely fading, he hears the faint incantation of the Teleport spell, and the four of them appear in Trent’s tower in Rexxentrum.

For Caleb, it was only a second or two between losing consciousness and waking up, but he doesn’t know how much time has passed. He is in a relatively unfamiliar location, although context clues around him suggest that he is in a hospital. He realizes that he is still in Bren’s body as he slowly blinks himself awake. Bren looks around and notices Eadwulf sitting in a chair not too far from his bed, with Astrid asleep on his shoulder. The two of them are bandaged up, and Bren notices that he is as well. Caleb “feels” the emptiness of Bren’s memory of the past events. Maybe he’s-- I’m-- unconsciously blocking it out, he thinks. Bren tries to speak but no words come out. He tries moving, but quickly realizes that he can’t, that everything hurts when he does. With that, Bren closes his eyes again.

The next flash of memory that Caleb sees is Bren waking up in the same bed, eyelids fluttering open as Astrid tenderly lays a still-bandaged hand on his forehead. She slightly gasps as she is startled by this, uneasily forms a smile. She says, “don’t worry, you’ll get through this. We’ll be here at every step of the way. Thank god you at least kept your eyes.” Caleb feels Bren try to speak but the only sound that comes out is a hoarse tone. Astrid blinks back a few tears and sits back down, next to where Eadwulf is. With that, Caleb feels Bren’s consciousness fade again. 

The next few instances were kind of a blur. Bren regained his voice, eventually. He began trying to move, but the pain kept stopping him. He talked to Astrid and Eadwulf, about how they were doing in school, about how their day went. He would eventually undergo physical therapy. He began to learn to walk again. He began reading again, he relearned his favorite cantrips again. When he was bored in the hospital room by himself, he would throw up his dancing lights and spin them around, make them different colors and shapes. 

He still did need assistance to walk, and on one such day, there were no nurses around to help him up. Bren wanted to go to the outhouse, and he crawled over to tap on Eadwulf’s knee, who was asleep again in his chair. He told Eadwulf what he wanted to do, and Eadwulf obliged to help. The pair walked down the hallway together and outside to the outhouse, with Bren leaning heavily on Eadwulf’s muscular stature. Eadwulf made sure that Bren got inside safely and closed the door behind him as Bren walked over and did his business. On his way out, though, Bren caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror next to the water pot. Usually the doctors would cover the mirror up so that Bren couldn’t see but they weren’t there to do that. Bren saw his hair, some long strands but mostly all burnt off. He saw his skin, pockmarked and melted off in places. One ear was half missing. His lips were reduced to tiny slivers. His nose was now just two small slits on his face. And Caleb felt the memories flood back in. His family, betraying their country. Climbing out of the window. Setting the hay bale on fire. Running in after his family as he heard them scream. Not finding them and accepting defeat, accepting death. Feeling Eadwulf’s hands around him as he is carried out. He falls to his knees as he breaks again, and screams out in pain. He climbs back to his feet slowly as Eadwulf starts banging on the door, telling Bren to open it. Bren looks back in the mirror, a new rage in his eyes. He busts open the door and Eadwulf is standing there, eyes wide. Before the latter can react, Bren casts Burning Hands at him and scrambles past him. Bren runs with a strength that he had not felt since his hospitalization. He runs into the streets of Rexxentrum and takes off in a random direction. He hears the guards behind him, yet he keeps running. He hears the yells of the populace as he runs through the open streets. He feels his body lock up as he barely hears the incantation of Hold Person. As he falls, he sees Trent standing over his body again, who quickly whisks him up and teleports.  
When Caleb regains Bren’s vision again, he sees the form of Trent pacing in front of his desk. Bren is sitting across from him. Caleb recognizes this as Trent’s office in the Vergesson Sanatorium. Trent is muttering to himself, writing things down. Bren looks on in curiosity. Suddenly, Trent picks Bren up with a Telekinesis and brings him deeper into the Sanatorium. They traverse hallways, rooms with patients in them, each insane in their own right. They approach a room with the door still ajar, and a nurse standing outside it. Trent floats Bren into the room and places him down onto the ground. He stares at Bren for a few seconds, sneers, and walks away. And as the door closes on Bren, Caleb feels his vision pulled away from Bren for the last time.

Caleb opens his eyes again and is greeted by the same figure of his echo, with their foreheads still pressed together. Caleb slowly starts pulling away and says, “I don’t know where to begin. You and I… we are not so different.” Caleb feels his own face and doesn’t notice the burn marks there and breathes a sigh of relief. “I didn’t know echoes could have such a power.”

The echo shrugs and takes Caleb’s hand. Caleb obliges and the echo begins tracing letters in it. This time, the letters spell “does it get better for us”. Caleb looks at the echo with a sense of pity, but also with empathy and says, “It does, Bren. It does. You know, I don’t know if you will remember this, but someday, you will overcome them. You’ll see your friends again. You’ll be stronger than you ever were.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so please be gentle; however, I would like constructive criticism if possible!


End file.
